Ileana García Magoda: Agua de vida

Anat Ebgi is pleased to announce Agua de vida, an exhibition by Mexican artist Ileana García Magoda. This is Magoda’s first presentation in the United States and features new paintings and works on paper. On view at 6150 Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles from May 24 through June 28. An opening reception will take place on Saturday, May 24 from 5-7pm.

In this exhibition of new works, Magoda explores la mar (the sea) as the creative mother and primordial womb of existence. Her paintings on canvas and works on paper delve into ancient mythologies, where the ocean represents divine feminine power and the mysterious depths of consciousness. Magoda’s dynamic compositions, filled with undulating forms, mirror the perpetual motion of the sea, while red waters transform emotional turbulence by creative force. Dense and vibrant, the works in Agua de vida (Water of life) consider the ebb and flow of inner transformations, hinting at alternate pain-free realities.

In esoteric and mythological traditions, water represents human emotions. It is the elemental manifestation of the full goddess, consciousness, the absolute. Tides carry us back to these primordial origins, to eukaryotes and archaea, organelles and protists, floating forms. Magoda’s gestures bloom like divine apparitions, her imagery coalesces and dissolves in the eternal dance of creation. In this aqueous realm, memory and myth emanate as a dream, offering a glimpse into a time before time. 

As Magoda delves deeper into the metaphysical, she turns inward. Connecting her artistic practice to an embodied experience of life, she has begun experimenting with myofascial release, a hands-on massage technique that can be performed on one’s own body. Pressure is applied to various nerve points to hydrate the muscle-joint connection and consequently release pain, improve circulation and range of motion. This therapeutic practice grounds a daily awareness of her own bodily experience, which she channels into her paintings. Pain and relief appear as point and counterpoint. Through these works, the body becomes both subject and medium, an aqueous archive where sensation, memory, and creation converge.